Tag Archives: Twitter bots

“We find that that political bot activity reached an all-time high for the 2016 campaign. (1) Not only did the pace of highly automated pro-Trump activity increase over time, but the gap between highly automated pro-Trump and pro-Clinton activity widened from 4:1 during the first debate to 5:1 by election day. (2) The use of automated accounts was deliberate and strategic throughout the election, most clearly with pro-Trump campaigners and programmers who carefully adjusted the timing of content production during the debates, strategically colonized pro-Clinton hashtags, and then disabled activities after Election Day.”

Tim Johnson for McClatchy (November 4, 2016): “A stream of recent sneaky tweets and social media posts tell people they can “vote from home” by simply sending a text message, a devious tactic to suppress votes.

The U.S. election is not “American Idol,” and voters cannot – repeat CANNOT! – cast ballots by texting from their cellphones. Twitter says it is taking the tweets down.

The last-ditch appeals underscore a broader issue of concern in an especially contentious political year: the increasing usage of robotic networks, or botnets, to flood the internet in an attempt to influence the election, squelch public debate, spread lies and manipulate voters….”

“For the last month, a Twitter bot named “Liz,” with the handle @arguetron, has been quietly engaging with the internet’s seediest subculture.

Well-versed in internet bigotry of all stripes, the bot makes simple statements (five or six per hour) designed to rile up 4chan commenters, Breitbart disciples, Trump supporters, anti-vaxxers, “censorship” whiners, Gamergaters, anti-feminists, transphobic Reddit boys, and the rest of the alt-right. The tweets aren’t particularly florid or aggressive, just calculated and crisp. The perfect bait….”